I’d been extremely good at ignoring personal health issues most of my life. The last time I was hospitalized was 55 years ago and even my wife recently said I was the healthiest person she knew. I got in excellent shape in the Marines and later played basketball, softball, jogged, swam, and coached my kids teams in three sports. I used a push lawnmower, did my own landscaping, and every winter I shoveled and used our snow blower. I was a little overweight, but didn’t think it mattered that much. Never went for an annual physical or had various tests done.
And then my wife passed away.
The cause of death was double pneumonia, but cancer really wore down her defenses until she couldn’t handle the growing pain all over her body. I organized her calling hours and funeral, handled the enormous paperwork involved with her being a state employee, and looked after my son and grandson. Everything went quickly right up to the day it happened. I don’t remember anything about that day. I picked up my grandson and took him to the dentist. Then we went and played miniature golf indoors because it was winter. He was on vacation so I bought him a Happy Meal at McDonald’s and drove him home. My daughter told me later that I said I was feeling tired and weak and would go home and take a nap. It was 4:30 PM on a Friday and the start of rush hour. I left her driveway and drove two blocks to the intersection of a busy street.
I had a seizure as my car crossed the busy street. I drove over the sidewalk and onto someone’s front yard. The car came to a complete stop as I stopped breathing. An off-duty fireman just happened to be walking close to my car and told me later that he knew I was either having a heart attack, or I was drunk. So he rushed over to my car, but the doors were locked. His buddy was 50 yards away so he ran to him and got a tool to break my car window. The two of them ran back to me, called 911, and dragged me out of the car and began emergency resuscitation on me. The fireman told me he knew I was still alive as each time he told me to breathe he heard me struggle to take a breath. His fast actions are what saved my life.
An ambulance took me to a local hospital, but they transferred me to a regional university hospital that evening. My family was notified and they came to see me in the hospital. My body was packed in ice and my body temperature was less than 40 degrees. They didn’t know if I would come out of this or not. When I woke up and learned where I was it was hard to accept it. A cardiac surgeon recommended triple-bypass surgery after I went home to gain strength for three weeks. The six-hour surgery was successful and I went home for a second time. The firemen who saved my life were honored at their annual banquet. I was a guest and got to meet them and thank them, and even made a brief speech to the gathering. One of them was receiving chemotherapy and a fundraiser was held to help him with driving expenses etc. I mailed a sizable check to help him and he thanked me.
So if you know a loved one who may be headed down the same path that I was on, please talk to them. Let them know that warning signs should be taken seriously. I ignored my blood pressure numbers, my family history of heart illnesses, and the need to change my diet. I know now what I should have done. I am alive today because every member of my “team” worked together to insure a successful outcome. Someone may not be as lucky as I was. I’m fortunate that the fireman just happened to move to that street a few days before I drove down it!
Tony I am glad you are here to tell us your story. I am so sorry about your wife. Your grandson is lucky to have you still in his life. Sounds like you adore him.
Was this recent or a while back? We need to hear stories like this as hard as they are to hear. I wish you better health ahead!
My Dad had a “silent heart attack” sometime soon after my Mom died. He needed a pacemaker and a defibrillator for the rest of his life. He had run the NYC marathon 3 times in his '40s and had good blood pressure. After the heart attack, more than half of his heart was scar tissue of some sort. Don’t underestimate the effect of grief on your body!
I’m glad your story had a happy ending, Tony. Very glad about the firefighters and how you have all helped each other. Enjoy every day and take care of yourself, you deserve it!
Thanks so much for sharing your story, @TonyK, and so glad you are here to tell it! It will make us all stop and think and not take our health for granted.
How wonderful and fortunate that the firemen were there to help you, and in turn, to benefit as well from their good deed.
Between your wife’s passing (my condolences) and your heart attack, that’s a lot of stress in a short period of time. Take care and be kind to yourself!
@TonyK, your story has some similarity to a Cornell professor who wrote his story. He had a heart attack while playing tennis. An ambulance happened to be nearby because of somebody else’s emergency. Otherwise, the professor would be dead.
My dad had a heart attack at age 63. Nobody knew if he was going to survive. He did survive a d lived another 25 happy years.
After his heart attack, my dad quit smoking. Cut his drinking. Ate better. And his attitude was very positive because he didn’t die.
You were very lucky. What a story! Your story is a wake up call for people our age. Thanks for sharing and I wish you the best!
One generation earlier, my dad had a heart attack in a Polish social club when he was 61. He died in the ambulance ride to the hospital. A week later his friend called me and asked me when the funeral was. When I asked, “What funeral?” I could feel the gulp in his throat as he realized I didn’t know that my own father had passed away.
So I had to go and identify my father at the hospital morgue. The hospital told me they couldn’t find any next of kin info so I asked for his effects and sure enough there was my name, address, and phone number in his wallet.
OMG – what a terrible way to find out about your father’s passing. That must have been a horrible shock.
TonyK, thank you for sharing your story with us. It’s a reminder that modern medicine can’t help us unless we go for our routine checkups to find what’s not right.
Tony, that is such a powerful story - I am so grateful to you for sharing it - I am going to share it with my husband who badly needs to hear it. Particularly that last paragraph.
Wow! Thanks for sharing your story. It makes me very glad I was able to find a good cardiologist when I was in Denver and get some much needed testing done.
I hope you and your grandson have many more happy years together!
Wow, @TonyK . So sorry about your wife. Glad you made it! There is another cc’er who has told her story here - she had an experience similar to yours, only she was in her kitchen and her son revived her- she was not driving a car when she had her MI. But she too was kept at a low body temp to protect her organs and minimize potential cognitive issues.
I have shared this story in part, but it is pretty identifying so I will share only part. I was a spectator at a very large annual Roadrace, sitting in a seat watching the runners, with a friend. A young man had a heart attack during the race and sadly great efforts to resuscitate him, unfortunately were unsuccessful and he collapsed and died in the lap of a spectator. That would be yours truly. As my way of giving back (besides helping his friends/ family) was to volunteer to run a bereavement support group for several years after that. Still haunts me that I couldn’t save him. I am glad you made it, @TonyK .
Good for you, posting and telling this story, TonyK! It needs to be heard. I’m so glad you made it through all your medical adventures and are here to tell the tale.
I know a urologist who was operating on a patient and knew he was having a heart attack. He told the people in the operating room to have the team ready for him, as he would be heading to the ER right after he completed the surgery. He finished the surgery and got himself to the ER and fortunately all the top cardiologists were there to help him through his heart attack and he is still doing well. It was scary for everyone!
@Himom , as I was reading your post, I first thought the doctor noticed his patient was having a heart attack while performing surgery on the patient! I wondered why he was taking his time and didn’t immediately call in help for his patient (who was having the heart attack). I finally figured out it was the surgeon having the heart attack, mid-surgery!! That is nuts!
In the past 2 or 3 years I have had 3 friends undergo bypass surgery. All 3 had symptoms, (maybe 1 was judged to have had a mild heart attack) but not serious heart attacks before the emergency surgery was recommended. In all 3 cases the surgery was deemed necessary almost immediately. The term “widowmaker” was used. @TonyK , you are a lucky man. You could have so easily died in your locked car if the right guy hadn’t been walking by at that moment.
@NJres You are so right. I’m in a college town and a few students tried to help too. The EMT arrived within 4 minutes! Five firefighters/EMT’s received plaques. They were very happy to see me and talk to me. I didn’t let on that I was still in pain and had trouble walking.
It took a few attempts to convince me I needed surgery as I was heavily medicated. Waiting 3 weeks was a difficult time for me. There were at least 20 nurses who took care of me in my two weeks in the hospital. I don’t know how they do their job, but they helped me get through it and some signed my heart pillow which I used for almost a month.